A golfer has died after he was struck by lightning during a tournament at a New Jersey course, according to reports.
Simon John Mariani, 28, was struck on the 15th hole at the Ballyowen Golf Course in Hardyston on Tuesday, July 8, as severe storms rolled through the area.
He died from his injuries on Monday, according to an online obituary.
Golfer Simon John Mariani died after being struck by lightning on a New Jersey golf course. Vander Plaat-Vermeulen Memorial HomeFellow golfer Brian Delia told ABC 7 that he filmed the menacing clouds as they darkened the sky minutes before Mariani, of Franklin Lakes, was struck about 300 yards in front of him.
“I started filming, and he was right in front of me, and all of a sudden the lightning strikes and I ended the video recording and we immediately just started heading back to the clubhouse,” Delia said.
Fellow golfers and an off-duty firefighter jumped into action to perform CPR on Mariani before he was rushed to a hospital by medevac, News 12 NJ reported.
The ominous clouds before lightning struck a golfer in New Jersey. briandelia.com//Brian DeliaA spokesperson for Crystal Springs Resort, which operates the golf course, said the weather conditions at Ballyowen developed rapidly and that staff had sounded the alarm warning golfers to get to cover from lightning.
Delia said his group never heard any such alarm.
“Nobody did say anything to us, we didn’t hear any horns to get off the course at all. They started blowing the horns when we were back at the clubhouse and that was after the police were already out there,” he told ABC 7.
Simon John Mariani, 28, died days after he was struck by lightning while golfing. Facebook/Simon MarianiThe Post has reached out to Crystal Springs Resort for comment.
Mariani graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2019 with an undergraduate degree in accounting in economics before he returned, earning his master’s in finance in 2024, according to his obituary.
He was most recently working as an associate at MTS Health Partners in NYC.
The course after it was struck by lightning. briandelia.com/Brian DeliaThe 28-year-old painted, baked and dabbled in photography in his free time and loved Taylor Swift, Jimmy Buffett, sweet treats and “well-done sesame bagels,” the obit said.
A funeral Mass has been scheduled for Friday at the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Franklin Lakes.
Mariani is survived by his parents, Scott and Kathleen Mariani, and his two sisters.
